Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
TALON
I can’t move.
I can’t breathe.
My mother—
My fucking mother…is gone.
And for a second, all I feel is relief. Then the guilt slams into me so hard I sway.
Penelope’s hand lands on my arm. Not pulling, just guiding. Her warm brown eyes are soft when I finally manage to look at her, concern tightening the delicate lines of her face, blonde hair falling over her shoulder like a curtain of gold.
“Talon,” she whispers.
I can’t look long. I look down instead—at my hands. My tattoos, usually something that makes me feel grounded, look like they’re inked on a stranger.
Silas is already moving, kicking the gun away from my mom’s body. His eyes flick to me, softening.
I look away.
Gideon steps up beside him. “Police are on their way. Chad just called them.”
Chad.
I force myself to look toward him.
He’s on his knees ten feet away, sobbing into his hands like his world just collapsed. Maybe it did. Maybe he’s finally seeing it all—the woman he planned to marry, the lies she told, the danger he never realized he brought into him and his daughter’s lives.
I force myself to look toward him.
He’s on his knees ten feet away, sobbing into his hands like his world just collapsed. Maybe it did. Maybe he’s finally seeing it all—the woman he planned to marry, the lies she told, the danger he never realized he brought into his and his daughter’s lives.
I can’t touch that yet.
I focus my attention instead on Minxy, who insisted she see the aftermath.
She’s only a few steps away, quivering so hard her knees knock together, but she’s standing. Somehow. Her eyes bounce between Abi’s body and my face, wide and terrified and furious all at once.
“Minx—” My voice breaks. I try again, holding my hand out. “Come here.”
She does, and my arms enfold around her, instinct taking over. I pull her against my chest, bury my face in her hair, and try to steady the emotions inside me.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve protected you. I should’ve—”
She shoves me in the chest so hard it shocks a breath out of me.
“Don’t you dare apologize,” she snaps before wrapping her arms around me again. “You saved me. You saved us. She’s gone. She can’t hurt us anymore.”
Her words crack something deep in me.
I sink down onto the grass, taking her with me while she’s still clutching the back of my shirt. I hold her tighter. Tighter than I probably should. But she doesn’t pull away.
Penelope kneels beside me, one hand sliding to the back of my neck. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t need to. Her presence grounds me.
Sirens grow louder.
Blue and red lights flicker through the trees.
Silas steps in front of us instinctively, planting himself between us and the world like he was built for it. He’s not holding a weapon, but he might as well be one.
I scan the tree line, then the road, and see the officers approach. Gideon moves to intercept them, calm in the way only he can manage. “There’s a weapon on the ground. The scene is contained. Six witnesses. One of which is a minor.”
I can’t hear the rest because my head is pounding, but I’m not worried because Silas and Gideon are here and they won’t let anything touch us.
Minxy presses her face into my shoulder. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” I whisper, pulling her tighter. “But it’s over now. She can’t touch you again.”
Her next breath shudders out of her like a dam breaking.
Officers approach. One of them crouches in front of us, voice soft. “Are you okay, Honey? What about you, son? You okay?”
I open my mouth—nothing comes out.
Penelope answers for us. “Yes. They are. And they need a minute.”
The officer nods. “Take your time.”
They keep glancing at Abi’s body—covered now, but still too close—then back at us with something like pity… or horror. Hard to tell.
They separate us one by one, guiding us a few steps apart but never out of sight. Minxy is the only exception since she’s underage; they let Gideon stay with her at all times.
Penelope keeps stealing glances at me like she’s making sure I’m not about to splinter. That’s when the officer starts the rapid fire questioning.
“What did she say before she fired?”
“Did she make any prior threats?”
“Did you hear her admit to involvement in previous deaths?”
“Did she point the weapon at you? Your sister? At the others?”
Each one is a hard pill to swallow.
I repeat Mom’s words, her screams, her confessions.
I tell them how she raised the gun.
How she aimed it at Penelope first, but at some point it was aimed at all of us.
How Chad stepped forward right before everything went to hell.
I hear my voice shaking, but I don’t stop. Because that feels like letting her win, and I owe my dad more than that. He deserves better than that.
Across from me, Penelope is talking to an officer too—her hands tremble, but she doesn’t break. Silas stands not far behind her like a shadow, arms folded, daring anyone to push our girl too hard.
Minxy is taken to the tailgate of an ambulance, Gideon hot on her heels.
A blanket is put around her shoulders, and there is nothing but anger in her eyes as a female officer speaks to her.
She speaks with precision when they ask her what she heard, what she knew.
Not one tear is shed, and she doesn’t flinch either.
Gideon stays stone still beside her, answering only when addressed, but his gaze never leaves Minxy’s face.
Recounting the fucking Lifetime movie we just survived feels unreal. But the more we speak, the more real it becomes.
We tell them everything.
Every lie our mom spun.
Every bruise she left emotionally or otherwise.
Every missing piece suddenly fits now that her mask is gone.
And with each word, I feel something tighten and then snap inside of me. It’s not grief or even rage. It’s freedom…
We survived her. Now we have to survive everything that comes next.
Chad gives his statement last, face pale, eyes empty. When he finishes, he walks toward me with the slow, broken steps of a man who doesn’t know how to exist in his own skin anymore.
“Talon,” he whispers.
I stiffen. But he hesitates, then rests a shaking hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he says, voice cracking. “I didn’t know. I should’ve listened. I should’ve seen it. I should’ve protected all of you.”
The apology lands somewhere I’m not ready to look at yet.
But it doesn’t make me angry. It makes me feel…tired. So goddamn tired.
“It’s done now,” I say softly.
He nods, tears streaking down his face. “Yes. It is.”
The police load Abi’s body into a van.
The officers thank us for cooperating.
They tell Minxy she’s brave, that I’m strong, and we’re all damn lucky to be unharmed.
And suddenly it’s just us again.
My family, somehow.
Silas places a hand on my back. Gideon grips my shoulder. Penelope takes my hand and lifts it to her lips.
“I’ve got you,” she murmurs against my skin.
Something breaks open in my chest.
For the first time since I was a kid, I let myself cry. Not loud or dramatic. Just quiet, steady tears that I don’t have to hide anymore.
Minxy tucks herself against my side as Penelope leans into me and my uncles stand guard.
Abi tried to destroy everything we had left.
But she failed.
We’re still here.
Still standing.
Still together.
And tomorrow?
Tomorrow we start over.
Without her shadow or control.
For the first time in my life, I think we might actually be truly happy.